John h



(No Model.)

J. H. CRISP.

SHEET METAL PIGKET FENCE.

Patented Aug. 3, 1886.

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UN TED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN H. emsr, on OHAMBERSBURG, rn nnron, new JERSEY.

SHEETHMETAL PICKETQFENCE.

SPECIFICATION-forming part of Letters Patent No. 346,644, dated August 3, 1886. Application filed March 11, 1886. Serial No. 194,847. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

, Be it known that I, JOHN H. ORIsP, of Ohambersburg, Trenton, in the county of Mercer, State of New Jersey, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Sheet-Metal Picket-Fences, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a panel of my improved fence, part being broken away. Fig. 2 is a sectional end elevation of the same, taken through the line :0 00, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a sectional plan view of the same, taken through the line y y, Fig. 1.

The object of this invention is to provide sheet-metal picket-fences constructed in such a manner as to be light, strong, and durable, and which shall be simple in construction andcomparatively inexpensive in manufacture.

The invention consists in the construction and combination of the various parts of the fence, as will be hereinafter fully described, and specifically pointed out in the claims.

A represents the horizontal rails of the fence, three of which should be used when the fence is made with pickets of different lengths; but when the fence is made with pickets of uniform length two horizontal rails will generally be sufficient. The rails A are made of sheet metal, and have downwardly-projecting flanges along their side edges, one of the said flanges being made a little deeper than the other, if desired. The bodies of the horizontal rails A may be horizontal, or may have a slight lateral inclination, and in the said bodies are formed V- shaped slots B, to receive the V-shaped pickets O. The width of the slotsB should be a little less than the thickness of the pickets (J.

In forming the panels the pickets O are driven upward through the slots B, which forces the V-shaped tongues in the angles. of the said slots upward. When the pickets 0 have been forced into place, the upwardlybent \I-shaped tongues in the angles of the slots 13 are drivenback into the planes of the bodies of the rails with a hammer or other suitable tool, so that the said pickets will be firmly clamped in place. When the panels are completed, the said panels are galvanized, the galvanizing material filling thejoints between the pickets and rails, and acting as a solder to further secure the said pickets in place. The ends of the horizontal rails A of the panels can be laid against a post, D, and secured in place by nails or spikes driven through through the flanges of the said rails and into the said post, as shown in Fig. 2, and at the right-hand end of Figs. 1 and 3; or the ends of the bodies of the horizontal rails A can be bent downward at right angles, and secured by nails or rivets to a post, D, set in the line of the fence, as shown at the left-hand ends of Figs. 1 and 3. I

The slots Bin the rails A can be made in the shape of arcs of circles, or of any other desired shape.

I am awarethat a fence has been formed of cast-metal ehanneliron having openings shaped according to the shape of the pickets used; also, that afence has been formed of sheet-metal U shaped posts having variouslyshaped slots of a size and shape to corre spond with the size and shape of the longitudinal rails. The rails were secured in place by means ofwedges, rivets, and lips bent outward from the rails between the two arms of the U-shaped post; and I do not claim the same as of my invention.

Having thus fully described my invent-ion, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by- Letters Patent, is

1. A picketfence comprising the sheetmetal rails having slots in vertical alignment, the material between the ends of the slots forming clamping-tongues, and sheetmetal pickets shaped to correspond to the form of the slots passed through the slots and clamped in place by the said tongues, the thickness of the pickets being greater than the width of the slots, substantially as set forth.

2. A picket-fence comprising the sheetmetal rails A A, inclined downward and rearward, formed with attaching-flanges along their rear edges, and V-shaped slots, the niaterial between the ends of the slots forming clamping-tongues, and the V-shaped sheet- 

